Simply put, Cone Beam CT is becoming the modality of choice for diagnosis and treatment planning in dentistry. It has become the de-facto standard for implant planning. New models are coming every year and many units have been sold around the world and this is still continued to be the trend. We saw that there was a real need to provide a complete digital solution to address the issue of lack of educational material. We thought about the best possible way to accomplish this goal and we finally decided to go with a web based solution as it is: cross-platform (ie: can run on different operating systems) instead of a single system, and the content can be updated easily. We saw how many dental and radiology websites were badly designed or implemented. We tried as much as possible to avoid the pitfalls and come up with a consistent elegant design. The main focus was to provide simple to use, clutter free layout, highly interactive material, user friendly interface, and rich in content. We keep updating the website with fresh material from different sources to keep the content up to date. After all education is meant to be having a good time while enjoying the learning experience.Powered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5

Marcilan aim is to provide oral and maxillofacial radiology education regarding different aspects of Cone Beam CT (CBCT) technology from principles to implementations to applications, . It comes with different modules such as: basics, anatomy, pathology, guided navigation, assessment, and more will be added in the future. Marcilan should help current and future dental DDS and graduate students, as they are having more and more exposure to CBCT during their dental curriculum and/or private practice once they graduate. They will find the information provided here invaluable. General practitioners who own Cone Beam CT machines or thinking of buying a new machine will benefit too. In addition to specialists like: oral and maxillofacial surgeons, orthodontists, endodontists, pedodontists, periodontists, as well as oral and maxillofacial radiologists. Dental technologists who work with CBCT whether in institute or private practice can learn more about CBCT and lastly, Marcilan can be used as a tool for better patient communication and education. The content of the website can be used as a study material as well as a quick reference.Powered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5

If you have used a computer and we are sure you are using it right now while reading this line then the least thing we can assume is that you understand or appreciate the benefits of computers and internet. Technology has transformed our world and made accessing information easier than before. But let’s throw a short comparison:

• Going web-based means that you don’t have to carry around your heavy books and atlases all the time anymore. Accessing the content is as easy as using your computer and loading a website. The information is just a click away!
• Books are limited in so many ways, searching a term in a book is limited and time consuming. However, on a website it is as easy as typing a term or a keyword and as fast as loading a page.
• Many books in the interest of savings, are not colored. While this may not sound so important since in radiology, we use gray scale for radiographs, however; colors can provide visual cues to let the users find their way easily and improve the layout of the page. Colors can also be used for illustrations, animations and 3D renderings to make the page looks more appealing.
• Branching of content. On a web page, it is possible to link important information using underlying links. Wikipedia is a very good example of that, for example, if you are reading on a subject and you found a term or some information that you don’t know or would like to learn more about, all you need to do is to click that link to open it up in a new tab or window. In books, you will have to go to the index at the back of the book and hunt for that term that’s assuming you haven’t been discouraged by the long list of terms already.
• Types of content. All of us are aware that books are composed of text and images. However, on a website, it is possible to include in addition to text and images other content such as: animations, videos, interactive content, and navigational elements.
• Greener. Printing books require paper and paper comes from trees. You can put thousands of pages on a website for thousands or millions of users to access and use without having to put an extra burden on the plant.
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In order to run Marcilan you will need to have a computer with internet connection. Fast internet connection like 512Kbps DSL and up is highly recommended. The faster your internet connection speed, the faster your access to multimedia files will be. The minimum screen resolution is 1024×768 (4:3 aspect ratio). Having a higher resolution can make navigation easier. 32bit colors displays are recommended. Marcilan runs smoothly under Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac OS X.Powered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5

While there are many browsers out there, you can rest assured that we tested Marcilan against the latest version of major browsers on the internet and the layout is rendered almost the same across: Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome, and Opera. Internet Explorer 6 is not supported because it is very old and does not adhere to modern web standards. Please if you are still using Internet Explorer 6 make sure to upgrade to Internet Explorer 7 or 8. Both are supported and have better security and performance features. For fancier layout, Firefox provides the best look and feel and it was used during the development and testing phases.Powered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5

The main language of the website is English. It is the standard language for communication across the globe and the language used for teaching oral and maxillofacial radiology in many parts of the world. If you would like to translate the content of the website to your language, you are welcome to send us an email and let us know. We welcome interested individuals/institutions and encourage them to do so as our aim is to spread the knowledge about Cone Beam CT (CBCT).Powered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5

Marcilan was developed by highly enthusiastic individuals who care about oral and maxillofacial radiology and CBCT in specific, and who believe that web based education is the present way of education and not the future. Check out the about us page for more information.Powered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5

While the content of the website is copyrighted. If you need to use some of the text, images, illustrations, animations, or videos in your research, please drop us a line using the contact us form and we will get back to you and see how we can help you with that.Powered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5

Our web hosting has peaks from time to time which can affect the performance of the website. Please refresh the page and see if that solves the problem. We optimized the loading of pages in several ways. Once the browser loads the home page then most of the content will be cached in the memory. Navigation to other pages will become much faster.Powered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5

Marcilan was designed primarily to run on personal computers whether desktops or laptops. It might run on your phone and you are welcome to try that. Some videos like QTVR will not run as the format is not supported and Flash content will not run either. However, Adobe is releasing Adobe Flash Player 10 for phones: WinMo, Android, and Palm Pre at the end of October. We will test and see if Flash content can run without problems and provide a fix if possible. However, Flash Player will not be released for your Blackberry nor your iPhone (You can complain to Apple about that).Powered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5

Yes, as long as it meets the minimum requirements (Check top of FAQ) it should run.Powered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5

As with all things that are still work in progress, beta simply indicates that the website is undergoing major changes that can affect its operation which means downtime, change in layout and functionality but it doesn’t necessarily means that it is not functional or unusable. We want to make sure everything is right and provide the best user and educational experience. That’s why you see that nice lime beta badge.Powered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5

Please report bugs/typos to us. This will help serve other users better. Please use the contact us form to let us know.Powered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5

All suggestions are welcomed as they tell us what we are missing and how can we serve better content to our users. Please use the contact us form to let us know.Powered by Hackadelic Sliding Notes 1.6.5